Episode #5: Kathy Quan on Home Care and Hospice Nursing

Registered nurse Kathy Quan from The Nursing Site joins us on today’s episode of the Nursing Assistant Podcast to discuss home care and hospice nursing, her journey from dancing to nursing, and her current role as a quality assurance nurse, blogger, and author of seven books.

Kathy’s goal is to help other nurses and healthcare professionals transition into different fields within nursing. After starting her writing career with About.com, then transitioning that content into her own website which quickly became a treasure trove of information for nurses and nursing students, she became an accidental author that spurred a career that produced seven books including — The Everything New Nurse Book (2 editions), 150 Tips and Tricks for New Nurses, The New Nurse Handbook, The Everything Guide to Careers in Health Care, The Everything Guide to Caring for Aging Parents, Time Management Skills for Nurses and her newest book, Exploring the Home Care Experience.

Listen as Kathy and show host Patricia discuss quality assurance, home care and hospice nursing challenges, Kathy’s transition from a dance major to nursing, how Nurse Alice (aka “The old army nurse”) influenced her journey, how a “math challenged” nurse obtained a minor in math, and much more.

In Today’s Episode

Kathy’s path from dance major to QA nurse to author and blogger.

How a QA nurse ensures that patient care provided by healthcare workers is quality care.

How even the “math-challenged” can excel in nursing.

Practical advice for those considering nursing as a career regarding the customer service aspect of nursing.

More About The Nursing Site

The Nursing Site is a treasure trove of information for nurses and those considering nursing as a career and includes sections of nursing history, nursing education, time management, issues in nursing, nursing processes and theories, celebration of nursing and many other nursing topics. This site was created in 2007 by Kathy and continues to be an industry leader in nursing-related websites.

Kathy’s accompanying blog, The Nursing Site Blog, covers a wide range of issues, including nursing discussions, personal reflections, nursing tips and more with articles from Kathy Quan and guest authors. This site also features a robust list of links for other interesting nursing sites.

More About HomeHealth101

Say the word “Nurse” and most people will picture a woman in scrubs with a needle in one hand and a cup of pills in the other. But there are so many other fields in nursing that healthcare professionals can consider — and home care is often at the top of the list.

But the transition from bedside nursing to home care nursing is not always an easy one. There are different assessments that need to be done, different paperwork that needs to be completed, different environments that need to be considered and different caregivers across a wide range of ability levels that need to be guided. It can be a daunting transition, but luckily, Kathy has developed a website to clear up these topics and more! Blogs, examples, procedures, discussions…it’s all right here on HomeHealth101.com. If you are thinking of making the move into home care…start here! If you are already in home care and need some support…visit this site now!

Not a nurse? No problem – Kathy has you covered too! Her companion website HouseCalls-Online.com has articles for healthcare consumers and direct caregivers (CNAs, HHAs) which discuss topics relevant to the home care industry and provides links, tips and resources to help you make the most of your home care career.

Featured Organization of the Week

This week’s featured organization is NurseCore, a service that matches high-quality caregivers to exceptional work environments. Headquartered in Arlington, TX, and with 24 offices located in 7 states, this company has been providing matchmaking services for over 30 years. Whether you are a caregiver looking for work, a facility looking for high-quality caregivers, a family member looking for someone to care for your loved one or an agency looking for temporary staffing, they have it all covered.